I think that you may not have done what tlwebb suggested. Bounce your whole project to a new file - basically mix it down to a new file. Then import the new file into a new empty VIP project and then use Timestretch to slow down the file so you can learn the parts.

After you delete the section you need to move an object, not stretch it. Instead of grabbing the edge, put your cursor in the over the lower half of the object you want to move. A "plus/arrow'" sign should appear next to the cursor - at that point left click and move the object to cover the deleted section.

I totally understand why some of you don't want to see them - and obviously we all know that they are necessary files but it would be cleaner, more organized and easier to navigate through WAV files if the Samp "H*" files had their own directory and weren't mixed in with the WAV files. Sonar used to (or maybe they still do) have the option to store their associated files in a separate directory and I wouldn't be surprised if other DAWs have that option, and I think that this would be a nice option to have in Samp.

I think that's great news for lots of Sonar users and I wish them the best. But I moved to Samplitude Pro X after Sonar X2 and I much prefer to work in Samp rather than Sonar. I never cared for the changes to the interface that happened after Sonar 8.5. Samp is my main DAW now.

The iLok Manager software needs to talk to the Internet to download the license. That is why it's looking for the Internet when you start it, and it worked perfectly for me that way.
I don't have the dongle, so I'm not sure how it works if you transfer the license to the dongle using your Internet computer - makes sense that it would work. Maybe, with the dongle, you don't need the iLok Manager software. (Disclaimer: I'm not at all an iLok expert)